Love and Longing

In Rick Bass’s “Fires” a rural recluse is ignited by a long-distance runner. “Fires” is set in a remote part of Northern Montana, and literary commentator Hannah Tinti notes that Bass is an ardent environmentalist as well as a fiction writer. “Fires” is from Rick Bass’s 1997 collection, In the Loyal Mountains. Recent works include the collection The Lives of Rocks: Stories, Nashville Chrome: A Novel, and the memoir Why I Came West. “Fires” is performed by Ted Marcoux.

Willa Cather’s “A Singer’s Romance” was published in Cosmopolitan in 1900, and while the magazine in those days didn’t have quite the risqué content of the contemporary version, it is true to Cosmo’s dedication to the pleasures of women. Cather’s opera singer has a romantic job, but no romance in her life, and hopes that will change. The work is lusciously performed by Tony Award-winning actress Marian Seldes.

Our final story is a charming short by the Israeli writer and filmmaker Etgar Keret. We’ve featured many of Keret’s playful fictions on SELECTED SHORTS, but this delicate gem entitled “What Do We Have in our Pockets?” just offers a man with a unique tactic for attracting happiness. The performer is our late friend, the writer and actor David Rakoff.